The TF2 Unusual Apyrocalypse

So there’s a thing in TF2 where you basically had a 100% chance at getting an unusual from a certain number of crates. Specifically specific crates. As in, you open a bunch of crates and you are guaranteed an unusual. Of course as soon as word got out that you could get guaranteed unusuals, everyone started buying the specific crates and opening them and getting a ton of unusuals. And of course, this all had a ton of repercussions. The first was that the market for Unusual Hats dropped like a brick. Normally, unusual hats were anywhere from about €30… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Ephemera – Warframe’s Unusual Effects

It was only a matter of time until Unusual Effects started fleeing Team Fortress 2 and infecting other games. In fact, Unusual Effects have been doing so for years. First these sparkly effects began infecting other nearby Valve games and before long everyone was getting into particle effects. But then everyone switched over to skins on guns and the world hasn’t been the same since. Sure, there were Unusual Guns, but they never really had the same effect that Unusual Hats did. Actually, right off the bat, I’ve kinda made a mistake here. Ephemera aren’t really Unusual Effects at all.… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Lord of the Flies

Once upon a time, long long ago, young aabicus made up his mind that he was ready to buy an unusual hat. I’d recently unboxed an Orbiting Lantern Officer’s Ushanka and sold it for $200 through Paypal, so I felt comfortable dropping some of that on a replacement unusual for a class I actually played. Which hat was a no-brainer; my beloved Prussian Picklehaube was the first hat the game had ever dropped, and it sat proudly on my medic’s head ever since. But what particle effect? There were so many, and I had to weigh the pros and cons… [Continue Reading]

Read more

Unusuals – a Thought, Part 3…

I’ve discussed this before. Not once, but twice actually, which is why this is part 3. Last time round, I was discussing how I quite liked unusuals but felt they weren’t worth the effort and my main point was that unusuals were a small step on the wealth ladder. Have my opinions changed? Um, I’m not sure. Let’s get this out of the way, I still haven’t unboxed an unusual. I probably never will. I do one or two crates whenever there’s a TF2 event thingy going on and that’s about it. I struck lucky this Halloween, buying one crate… [Continue Reading]

Read more